THE Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese has come under fire once again for their handling of notorious paedophile priest Vincent Ryan's death, accused of running a "public relations" exercise to change the narrative.
Ryan, who was convicted of sexually abusing 37 boys, died on April 13. While some members of the clergy were informed, it was otherwise kept secret and he was reportedly buried a priest in keeping with his wishes made clear to the church before his death.
Those decisions have attracted heavy criticism, particularly from survivors, their families, and those who lost people to suicide as a result of Ryan's crimes.
It was not until some two months later, on Friday, June 10, that Zimmerman Services' head of healing and support, Magda Mycak rang and left a message for Audrey Nash, whose son Andrew took his own life in 1974, aged 13, after suffering abuse at Ryan's hands.
In the message Ms Mycak said she wanted to talk about the "miscommunication" surrounding Ryan's death, which Andrew's brother, Geoffrey Nash, described as "an obvious attempt at re-branding" the church's handling of the matter, and "a complete professional failure".
"It's not a miscommunication, hiding the death of an offender of that magnitude in the Hunter," Mr Nash said.
"He is one of the most serious paedophiles that's been arrested in Australia. He's in the very top, first division. He was active for 26 years, he was moved to Melbourne, he was moved to the United States ... there were 37 guys in court over him, and he spent about 14 years in jail, and a couple of years in home detention.
"The idea that you would obey his wishes, and that he could be buried quietly, and the victims and their families and people who have lost someone because they were abused as a little altar boy were not informed ... It's 2022. That is outrageous for 2022. A complete failure, professionally, in terms of trauma and healing and support."
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Clergy Abused Network chairperson and co-founder Bob O'Toole said Ms Mycak learned about Ryan's death from him, six weeks after the event, and that she was on sick leave when it became public knowledge.
She should have been informed immediately, Mr Nash said, but in any case the message she left for his mother was extremely inappropriate.
"Being missing in action and as of Friday, ringing people like Audrey Nash, saying 'sorry about the miscommunication' about Vince Ryan ... that is a complete failure to follow best practise," he said.
Questions the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese needed to answer included why it was that Ms Mycak was not informed immediately of Ryan's death, and if she was ill, why no one else took on the role that would have been hers to communicate with survivors and their families. Who, if anyone, consulted her before she contacted the Nash family; why it was that no other survivors or family members appear to have been contacted, and whose idea it was to "re-brand" the failure of the church to inform people at the time of Ryan's death, in a safe and supportive way, as a "miscommunication", Mr Nash said.
However, the Diocese has officially refused to answer "any further questions that relate to the death of Vincent Ryan".
Andrew's sister, Bernadette Nash, said Audrey has found the church's secrecy, and subsequent handling of Ryan's death, stressful and upsetting.
"I think in the message it says 'misinformation and miscommunication'," Ms Nash said. "But, it was a deliberate choice by the church not to tell anyone. They bury him as a priest, and hold it for ... how many weeks?
"Then ringing a 96-year-old woman up and changing the narrative of the story, trying to pretend they're interested in helping us, is just complete crap. It's very similar to what happened when Andrew died, it's just like October 1974."
